The Queue
by feanor
Summary: Harry and his friends are waiting these last few hours just like we are.


Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies and all respective items and characters (beasts or beings) from the novels and novellas of J. K. Rowling are hers by moral right and legal copyright. Harry and his friends are waiting these last few hours just like we are. 

**The Queue**

"How long now?" Ron asked.

"About 5 minutes after you last asked Ron." Hermione replied but then said, "Still over 8 hours to go." 

"I don't see why we should have to queue. It's about us after all." Ron complained.

"Well we wouldn't have to wait if you had let ME do that levitation spell at the printers. I wouldn't have dropped those books in some farmers field." Hermione reminded the sour faced red head next to her.

"It's not my fault if I still have trouble with that charm. Besides you had your chance at that shop in New York with the confundus charm. That shop owner was suppose to forget about the embargo on the books and sell us a copy early, not some blasted newspaper reporter."

"The reporter pushed in front of me and grabbed the last copy." Hermione replied hotly.

"At least we didn't try stealing an entire truckload like Snuffles." Ron said with a smile returning to his face.

"Sssh!" Harry said annoyed at his friend's conversation. To him, this was not a laughing matter. "Someone might overhear." He whispered to Ron as the muggle girl in front turned to look at the three of them. She looked from Hermione's bushy hair to Ron's red hair to Harry's black untidy hair. Harry hoped his hairs fringe still hid his scar from view. 

"You three should be dressed in your Hogwart's robes." she said.

"I beg your pardon." Harry replied taken aback. Had they been recognized?

"You look exactly like Harry, Ron and Hermione you know. You should have dressed up in robes. You would have looked great." She said. "Don't you just love the stories. Wouldn't it be great if it was for real! The I could go to Hogwarts and oh! I just know Harry would really like me." The girl blushed at Harry when she said this but luckily for the shocked wizard, she turned back to talk to her friends in front of her.

Ron was laughing so hard he couldn't breath. "Oh shut up!" Harry said. He was furious. It was bad enough that his life story was being put into books in the muggle world every year but now he was being forced to queue for the latest book about last years adventures just to see that no real secrets from the war against Voldemort and the deatheaters were exposed. Although Harry doubted that Voldemort frequented Muggle book shops, you could not be too careful. 

When the first book named 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' appeared just after his first year at Hogwarts in the muggle book shops, no one in the wizarding world noticed. Then the second and soon afterwards the third books appeared and the first of the movies were made. It was bound to be noticed by someone who knew the truth.

It was Dudley, of all people, who first noticed. Some of his friends at Smeltings gave him a copy of the first book and he had run, well walked as quickly as he could manage, all the way home to his parents. Their worst fears had been realized. The normal world had learned of their abnormal nephew. When Harry got to the Dursley's house for the summer his Aunt and Uncle had been livid. At first Harry didn't understand what they meant until Dudley handed him the book. Harry just gaped. He turned his back on his still yelling Uncle and sat down and began to read. The more he read the worse it got. Everything was detailed there for his first year. The second and third books were even more detailed. Harry didn't know how it could be worse! Then Dudley had put on the DVD of the movie. The characters in the movie were not an exact match but close enough.

A year later when he had arrived at the Dursley's for the summer the fourth book was waiting. He had only just recovered from the shock of what had happened at the end of his four year when he had to relive it all again as he read "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." He had owled Dumbledore immediately and sent the book with his message. 

Dumbledore was evasive in his response when he assured Harry in his reply that the matter would be looked into. Well, that was two years ago and now he had to queue just to be one of the first to get a look at the fifth book. If it gave away anything really serious about the war with Voldemort, Harry didn't know what would happen. It certainly was not going to be possible for the Ministry Of Magic to use memory charms on so many muggles as appeared lined up to buy the book not just here in London but all over the world. Harry cringed at the though of just how popular the story of his life was in the muggle world. The Ministry was not happy about the breach in their secrecy but Harry and Dumbledore had convinced them that they knew nothing about how this came about. The author of the books had no link to the magical world at all. Every witch and wizard in Britain was puzzled by how she had uncannily detailed the stories so accurately as works of fiction.

"She must be some sort of muggle born mystic." Dumbledore had finally decided and in the absence of any better explanation the Ministry had agreed. 

"7 hours 45 minutes Ron." Hermione said jarring Harry out of his thoughts. Ron must have asked his question yet again.

At the end of the queue a tall older man with blond hair and a very similar looking young man joined the end of the queue.

Ron noticed them first. "Head Death Eater and ferret boy are here!" he said sneering. Harry turned and glared at the Malfoys who appeared to be trying to stay aloof from the surrounding muggles. When the Lucius Malfoy saw who was ahead of them in the queue his hand reached inside his jacket but he stopped when a voice from behind caught his attention.

"Lucius, an unexpected pleasure to see you again."

Spinning around Lucius hissed, "Headmaster!" Now he dare not try anything with Dumbledore there. "What brings you to this … place?"

"I felt in the need of some reading material." Dumbledore replied as his eyes sparkled. He was not alone, backing him up was Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall.

"Oh this is going to be a real barrel of laughs" Harry sighed.

"How long…" Ron's question was cut short as Hermione's watch hit him in the face.


End file.
